Monday, March 19, 2012

Best Friends Need Your Help

You receive a phone call from your two best friends. "Hey, we've done something terribly wrong and need your help. We can't talk about it over the phone. Please meet us at the spot where we made our pact back in high school. You know the place." Nervously, you grab your coat and car keys. Writer's Digest

I was eating a delicious hamburger when my cell phone started ringing. The loud guitar solo that serves as my ring tone startled me and I made a mess of my fries. I thought about ignoring the call but when I saw the number I knew it was important.
I hit the answer button. "This better be good" I said.

"Jeremy!" Edwin said almost immediately. "Hey, we've done something terribly wrong and need your help. We can't talk about it over the phone. Please meet us at the spot where we made our pact back in high school. You know the place."

The line went dead. I attempted to call Edwin but the call went straight to voicemail. I snatched my keys and left the apartment, leaving the TV on, my half-eaten burger on the coffee table, and my fries scattered across the carpet.

I arrived at Johnson's High about fifteen minutes later. The parking lot was an asphalt desert with very few working light poles. At the far end of the parking lot was the main building, and inside it, the chemistry lab where we made a pact to take care of each other, no matter what.

As I approached the building I noticed how unkempt it was. The once luxurious school now looked like an old man forgotten by his family and ignored by the nursing home staff. Most of the windows were boarded up and the few that weren't, were broken. The chain used to lock the front set of doors was cut and laying on the stairs. The right door was open.

A small hint of light could be seen through the door as if someone inside was waving a flashlight. "Ed?" I yelled towards the building but received no answer. "Time to go in then." I said in a low voice in an attempt to convince myself that going inside was a good idea.

I went up the steps and into the building. The hall was extremely dark, the only light coming from outside through the doorway I was now blocking. I took out my cell phone and turned it on, using the screen as a flashlight and started down the hall.

All the labs were on the back side of the building. I walked down the hall, expecting something sinister to jump out at me. I turned the corner into the back hallway just as my cell phone screen timed out, turning an already dark hallway into a black hole. I fumbled trying to turn it back on when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Without a though, my feet carried me in that direction. I took a deep breath and walked into the room.

The lights came on and everyone I knew at the time yelled in unison, "Surprise! Happy Birthday Jeremy!"